Word changes to current date on a template (2003 SP-1)

Topic

New Reply

How can I keep Word from changing the date on a Template (invoice) to the current date each time I open it? I change the date to the original and save it but when I try to print it the date reverts to the current date.

Jeff

Reply | Quote

Replies

If you use “Create Date” in a template, the date displayed will not be the date the template was created, but the date the document was created from the template.

Fred

Reply | Quote

Fred,

Thanks….. but call me dense!! I don’t see how this addresses my problem? Perhaps a little more detail might help clarify things…. I downloaded a template from Microsoft’s array online; it was a basic Invoice. I filled in all the relevant data and saved it as a .doc file. Then a couple weeks later I needed to submit a COPY of this same Invoice to the company. So, in Word, I opened the document and the date (default field) was immediately changed to the current date. So, I changed the date back to the original date (March 27), clicked “Save” and then tried to print it. But each time I clicked on “Print”, the date reverted back to today’s date (April 19).

I don’t want Word to change the date to the current date but to keep the original date when the document was first created and saved. So, what must I do?

Jeff

Reply | Quote

Press Alt+F9 to view the field code. Does it say DATE? This means current date. That is why the above poster suggested using CREATEDATE. Note that CREATEDATE may be updated if you use Save As. I’d have to experiment to find out. Or search the board, as this has been discussed several times before.

Reply | Quote

I highlighted Date: April 19, 2005 pressed Alt+F9 and it changed to: {DATE@ “MMMM D, YYYY”}. Now, I haven’t a clue what that is supposed to tell me. Looks like I’m left with doing what you last suggested; using Search here.

Thanks anyway,

Jeff

Reply | Quote

Try leaving your document in field code view and using Insert>Field… (Date category). You’ll soon discover what all the different field codes relevant to dates look like and do.

Reply | Quote

Well, that was interesting but it didn’t resolve the problem of the date being updated when opening it each time. So, I decided to experiment on my own and figured out a way to make this silly problem to away. I simply highlighted the date field (normal view) and clicked on “Insert/Date & Time” choosing the format I wanted. I then changed the date from the current date to the original of March 27, 2005 and saved the document. I then re-opened it and the date didn’t change. The final test was to print the document which always changed the date back to the current date after clicking on “Print”. But this time it didn’t!

Now all I have to do is find a way to keep that annoying “Template Help” Task Pane from displaying every time I open a Template.dot. The “Task Pane Controller” addon works great with normal .doc files but not with Templates it seems. This only started being displayed after I used the Template Help to go to the Microsoft Office website to find the template I’m now using.

Thanks,

Jeff

Reply | Quote

To insert a fixed date into a document or template, tou needn’t use Insert | Date and Time at all, you just type the date. (It’s what you ended up doing anyway). But since you now have a fixed date in the template, ALL documents (invoices) you create from the template will be dated March 27, 2005.
If you had used the CreateDate field as suggested by Jefferson, each new document created from the template would show the date this document was created. So if you create an invoice today (April 20), it will show the date April 20, even when you open or print it next week or next month.

Reply | Quote

Hans,

You and the others obviously assume that I know what you guys are talking about. However, I know absolutely NOTHING about using Word Templates. Where does one find this “CreateDate field”? I’m more than willing to try suggestions, but I’m not going to sit here for 1/2 hour trying to find something to implement. This entire thing is ridiculous, IMHO. I downloaded a template/form, filled in the various fields, saved it and then ran into this problem of the ever-changing date. I assumed, wrongly it appears, that this date-changing issue could be resolved by simply unchecking some option in Word. Man was I wrong, eh? So, I’m told to use something called a “CreateDate field”, which again I assumed was what templates/forms had by default. Well ….. sorry, but I’m totally lost. Perhaps Notepad is more compatible to my abilities.

Jeff

Reply | Quote

There are two ways to do this

1. When you displayed field codes by pressing Alt+F9 as suggested by Jefferson in post 471642, you saw

{ DATE @ “MMMM D, YYYY” }

You can change DATE to CREATEDATE, then press Alt+F9 again to hide the field code.

2. If you want to insert a CREATEDATE field from scratch, select Insert | Field as suggested by Jefferson in post 471655. CreateDate is among the available fields. See the screenshot below.

Reply | Quote

Hans,

You da man! That’s what I needed to get my Word-challenged brain to grasp what everyone has been suggesting. It worked perfectly!!

Now, how do I keep the “Templates Help” Task Pane from being displayed every time I open a template??

Thanks again,

Jeff

Reply | Quote

> how do I keep the “Templates Help” Task Pane from being displayed every time I open a template?

Normally you only need to open a template to edit it. To create a new document from your template, you can use File>New, or should I say, the New Document task pane. That should not open any template-related help or tools.

It might be possible to suppress the Templates Help, but as a Word 2002 user, I’m not familiar with what you’re seeing. (It doesn’t happen to me.)

Reply | Quote

Whenever I click on “File/New”, the Task Pane opens as “New Document”, from which I am given the various types of documents to choose from. If I choose a “Template”, the Task Pane remains open and changes to “Template Help”. See the screenshot of the “New Document” Task Pane.

Reply | Quote

Here’s a screenshot of the “Template Help” Task Pane which opens if I choose “On my computer” from under “Templates”.

Reply | Quote

Hi Pilgrim,
The basic cause of your problem with the date is that the template you downloaded uses the wrong field. It uses DATE instead of CREATEDATE. (The other posts have explained about fields) It is not a mistake you have made.
You can:
1) Edit the template to change the field code (you may not be confident enough to do this), or
2) Search around for another invoice template to use instead (time consuming)

Also, you could send feedback to Microsoft suggesting that the template should be changed.

best of luck,
Judith

I

IMHO

Reply | Quote